Tag: affirmations

Rewiring Our Thoughts

Are you accused of being a Pollyanna about life? Pollyanna was the little girl who always saw the silver lining in every cloud. Personally, I’d rather be Pollyanna than Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh stories, the latter who sees the cloud in any silver lining.

If you’ve read my work for any length of time you probably know I’m not one to spout trite affirmations. Phrases of positive content are definitely helpful in reshaping our thinking, but we must supplement them with equally positive actions. Some people seem to think thinking, saying or writing affirmations is the end all; then they’re upset when their desires don’t fall in their lap, or appear wrapped up with a pretty red bow and delivered by a hunky FedEx® guy in shorts!

Still … just being positive appears to have clinic evidence to recommend the practice of going for the good, instead of anticipating the bad. Social psychologist Alison Ledgerwood is a researcher who “investigates how certain ways of thinking about an issue tend to stick in people's heads.”

Not surprising is that positive thinking leads to more positive results than negative thinking. But there’s a more bizarre and quite eye-opening fact about the opposite. According to Ledgerwood, thinking from bad-to-good, or losses-to-gains, requires more work on our part than moving from good-to-bad, or gains-to-losses. And, in most cases, our brains never quite get all the way back to the positive, as we experience a bit of “residual doubt” even when the worst thing we can imagine doesn’t happen.

This may have served us well as hunter/gatherers thousands of years ago, but in modern society it can be a serious problem. One would think that going from A-to-B would be the same as going from B-to-A, yet studies indicate the opposite. In other words, if we want to have a more productive, satisfying and successful life we are better out starting out with the positive angle of anything, instead of looking for all the negative consequences.

Ledgerwood reports that research from University of California Davis suggests that “writing just a few minutes a day about the things we’re grateful for can boost happiness, well-being and health.”

In a world that focuses on what’s wrong it can be a challenge to focus on what’s right. However, stepping up to that challenge is exactly what the clinical research tells us we must do for not only our success and happiness, but for our peace of mind and physical well-being.

So here’s a thought: Instead of assuming that the next tragedy reported via the media is definitely a terrorist attack fueling the “phobia du jour,” why not move directly to compassion and support for those affected?

If you’re not already doing so, start each day even before you get out of bed by focusing on the positive things that you expect to happen. (Side point: EXPECT good things to happen!) And, before retiring, write in a “Gratitude Journal” about just three things that happened that day for which you can give thanks.

Do you use affirmations? Or, do you understand what they are and how they work?

The use of affirmations – short, meaningful, positive statements to focus our minds on a goal or desire – is taught widely. Louise Hay, the well-known New Thought minister and healing-focus writer, made affirmations an everyday word in 1984 when she released her classic book, “You Can Heal Your Life.”

But do affirmations really work? Many people in my field would probably say, “YES!” with great enthusiasm. I have a one-word answer as well.

“Maybe.”

Will our car get us to the store? Maybe, if we take it out of the garage and the tank has gas in it. Will the bank honor the debit card we use when we get there? Probably, as long as we have money in our account.

Affirmations, like many other things in our lives, offer a conditional guarantee. They work, but only if we use them the right way.

Affirmative statements they are not the genie in the bottle that magically manifests our desire. Rather, they are a mechanical way to reprogram our thinking away from the mind goblins in our head who tell us we can’t have what we want. Affirmations provide the mental nutrients for the fertile soil in our minds into which we plant a seed that, if nurtured regularly, will grow into the desire we seek.

Above all else, we must believe that what we say is possible. Ernest Holmes wrote, “I believe that every affirmation I make will immediately take effect in my life. I fill every statement with joy; therefore, I expect joyful happenings.”

This is the key to using affirmations in our life. We can use them for our health, relationships, career/full self-express and prosperity. There is really no limit to the way we can wise use this spiritual tool.

Do you have an ongoing issue that you’d like to move through and beyond? Consider using powerful and focused affirmative statements that mean something to you.* Align your thoughts with your desires. Then allow Spirit to move through you for your highest and greatest good.